


We've had this day with each other from the very beginning Archikins

by BikerChick101



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I'm just obsessed, One Shot Collection, Random & Short, The title is a mouthful, all fluff, canon-ish until 2x09, no real point to any of this, varchie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-15 21:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13621593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BikerChick101/pseuds/BikerChick101
Summary: A day in the life and snapshots of my favorite couple on Riverdale, mostly fluff, canon-ish until 2x09





	1. I love you

**Author's Note:**

> Post 2x06 - ish

If there were ever a night that really solidified what their relationship was, it was a couple of months after Fred Andrews was shot.

It was a night where they all forgot about the blackhood and the war between the north and south side. With the leader of the Goulies in jail, things were in a strange state of limbo for Jughead and the serpents, Betty and Jughead had made their way back to each other after she explained how she was being threatened and while things weren't how they were before, they were getting there, and Veronica and Archie, strangely enough to everyone but them, were still going strong.

Archie got to the party at Reggie's place about an hour after she did because he was saying bye to his mother who had come for a visit when Betty found him.

"Hey Betts," he greeted hugging her.

"Arch, you need to find V," she said patting his arm. "She's been avoiding me since she got here and she looks ... lost."

"Jingle Jangle might be involved," Jughead commented, coming to stand against Betty and nodding his head in the direction of the private rooms upstairs. Jughead was never one for a party, he preferred to stay away from people that he didn't particularly care for but Betty insisted that he join her and he grudgingly obliged.

Archie nodded and left them, avoiding tipsy students till he found Reggie. "Dude," Reggie said, his eyes not completely focused on Archie. "You made it."

"Yeah, finally, where's Veronica?" he asked and Reggie shrugged scratching his head and looking around. "I think she went into that room."

All Archie found in the room Reggie pointed out to him was a very annoyed couple, who pushed him out of the room so they could continue. Archie shook his head unsure if he wanted to open any other doors if that's the sight he was going to see.

"Archie Andrews, what are you doing standing in the middle of the hallway?" a voice asked from behind him and he turned around, relieved to see a mostly sober Josie looking at him. "V is out on the balcony, she needed some air."

"Thank you," he said hugging her quickly because she was the only one that had any proper locations for him and then he started running, jumping over someone on the floor on his way out, he almost smashed into the sliding door, if it wasn't for a cat sticker on the glass he wouldn't have thought it was closed.

She was leaning on the banister, a red cup dangling from her hand as she watched the chaos below her. This was different, he knew her when she was sober, he knew her when she was drunk and he knew her after she had Jingle Jangle, she was not quiet or solemn or one to isolate herself in any one of those states.

He walked up behind her and pressed himself to her back, moulding himself around her and placing his hands on either side of her on the banister, he knew that she'd know it was him, she always had this uncanny sense of knowing where he was in proximity to herself.

"Archikins," she breathed, straitening herself out a little and tilted her head to press her lips to his jaw. "Is your mom gone?"

"Yes, she'll send a message when she gets home," he told her and she made a noise of acknowledgement. "Betty said you've been avoiding her."

"I've been avoiding everyone," she said picking her cup up and holding it to him. "You need to get on my level."

Archie moved over and leaned on the railing next to her, taking the cup and draining the contents. "Jeez Ronnie," he said coughing. "What is in here?"

She held up her other hand with the half full bottle of vodka and smiled sweetly. "I didn't bring anything to mix it with," she said pouring herself another shot and drinking it like she was having water. "Come on Archikins, I know you can handle it."

Archie narrowed his eyes at her but took the bottle out of her hands and poured another shot, holding both the bottle and the cup out of her reach. "First you need to tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," she muttered and running her hands down his chest and clutching the material in her hands using it to pull herself forward and press up against him. "I just didn't want to be around anyone without you."

Archie didn't say anything he just kissed her, he knew that part was true, he could see it on her face, but he would find out the reason for her clingyness before the night was out, he just needed to ask at the right time. "Now that I'm here, do you want to go back downstairs and socialize?"

She looked up at him with a cheeky grin and picked at the buttons of his shirt but before he could kiss her again, there was a crash downstairs and a couple of screams and the silence of no music. Archie and Veronica looked at each other startled and Veronica sighed, knowing that they'd have to leave this private spot now, Archie would always try to help when there was trouble.

"Always the hero babe," she said grabbing his hand and pulling him to where the commotion was.

Reggie had managed to get himself in a fight with Chuck, a table was overturned and a couch was on it's side, Archie was one of the only ones in the state of mind to stop the fight so he jumped in to help Jughead and two of his teammates separate the boys. Chuck was pushed outside and Reggie was pushed into the kitchen, still screaming for Chuck's head and pushing himself to get through the door.

"Don't worry boy's, I have it from here," Josie told them, holding up a wet cloth and bandage for the cut on his cheek and Archie and Jughead left with the promise to be close by in case he gets away from her clutches to which Josie just raised an eyebrow for him to try.

"Are they together?" Jughead asked when they left the kitchen, Jughead with drinks and a bag of chips, and Archie shrugged.

"Seem's like it," he said spotting Veronica and Betty sitting on the right side up couch. "What was that about anyway?" he asked slipping in close next to Veronica on the couch.

"Chuck said something stupid," Jughead said rolling his eyes and Betty leaned against him.

"Chuck made a comment about Ethel's dress and Reggie defended her honor," Betty clarified, reaching out to take the cup from her boyfriends hand so she could drink whatever he poured for her. "But I think Reggie thought the comment was about Josie, that's why he was so riled up."

"Huh, so they are together," Jughead said nodding to himself and digging into the bag of chips.

"Wanna dance?" Veronica asked softly when the music was back on properly and Archie nodded, the bottle of vodka that was half empty when he got in was now finished and on the floor when she stood up, Betty looked up worriedly but Archie shook his head and led his girlfriend onto the dance floor making her do some ridiculous spins as they walked to a spot to dance at and Veronica giggled for the first time since he got there and he smiled, spinning her one more time before drawing her close to him.

"Betty's worried," he told her and she sighed and dropped her head to his shoulder.

"Betty is always worried, don't worry, I'll go make it up to her," she said smiling when the song changed and pulling at his arms so she could spin around and dance with her back against him. "Not right now though."

Archie danced with her and then watched as she danced with Betty and Josie and Cheryl, even pulling Jughead onto the floor for a song, she looked free but there were moments where her face changed as if she remembered something awful but she'd take a shot and the smile would be back on her face, and you would never know that her face changed if you weren't looking at her.

"Ok, we're done, let's get you home," Archie said after she and Reggie had their last shot, it was late, most people were already gone, it was just a handful of them left and only Veronica and Reggie were still drinking.

"Noooooo, it's still early," she whined and Archie bent down and picked her up throwing her easily over his shoulder and saying bye to the people remaining. "Archikins..."

"It's late, you're drunk, your father is going to kill us both," he joked, although he wasn't really sure how much of a joke that was, Hiram Lodge might actually try to kill him for bringing his daughter home in this state, he and Archie had never found much understanding with each other preferring to avoid each other. Veronica froze and Archie felt her body tense up so he gently lowered her to stand in front of him and cupped her face.

"Anywhere but there," she whispered with tears in her eyes, Archie had known Veronica for 2 years, they had been through alot during that time and never before had he seen her this vulnerable. "Please."

"Ok, you'll come home with me," he said running his fingers through her hair and pulling her to him. "My dad will just have to deal with it."

"You're too good to me Archikins," she said already in a better mood and he laughed, scooping her up again to carry her because she was walking too wobbly and slowly for him. "You're my favorite person."

"Well that's a really good thing because you're my favorite person too," he said and she smiled, almost as if she were relieved that he felt the same, tracing out the contours of his face and kicking her legs as they walked. "How much did you drink?"

"I dunno," she said with a shrug. "The drinks kept coming and I kept drinking."

Her speech was slurred and half of the things she was saying sounded like she was trying to sing them but he didn't mind any of that because he loved her. It was a thought that was bubbling in his mind for a while, he hadn't quite said it out aloud yet and he doubted tonight would be that night but as she leaned back in his arms, with the utmost trust in him in her drunken state, he was struck by exactly how much he loved her.

It was a short walk to his house, Veronica was silent through most of their trip, he almost thought she'd fallen asleep but a quick look at her face told him she was still awake. "We're going to have to be quiet now ok?" he said when he set her down at his front door so he could open it.

"Ok," she whispered with her most serious face when he opened the door. She tumbled in and almost crashed into the coat hanger, Archie caught her and put his finger to his lips and laughed as she tried to quieten her giggling. His dad was probably already awake and he knew that Veronica was there, the best Archie could do was try not to make too much of a racket. The stairs looked daunting but Veronica made it up with minimal help from Archie and deposited herself onto his bed, waiting for him to close his door and join her.

Veronica looked at him with sleepy eyes and smiled as he got out an old t-shirt for her to wear and shook her head, no, he narrowed his eyes but took the shirt out anyway, putting it on his desk.

"You're going to be uncomfortable in that," he said coming to sit on the bed in front of her when she sat up and pulled her legs over his so he could take off her shoes, wondering how she could possibly walk around in those things the whole night and not complain. "I texted your mom and told her that you went home with Betty, but I'm sure she knows you're with me."

"The safest place in the world," she said softly, running her finger back and forth across his chest and then she tugged at the t-shirt he was wearing to bring him in for a kiss.

"What are you thinking?" he asked when they broke apart, he reached for her skirt, pulling it off as she watched him pensively, after she helped him take her top off he reached for the t-shirt he grabbed before to put it on and she shook her head again, pulling at the one he had on. "Ronnie, this one smells bad," he laughed but shed the button down shirt he was wearing and pulled the under t-shirt over his head and handed it to her. "I've been wearing it the whole day."

"T'Smells like you," she told him, smiling and slipping it on and waiting for him to get rid of his pants so he could slip into bed with her, tucking her into the side of his body. "My dad is doing something illegal again."

Archie furrowed his brow and looked down at the top of her head. "What do you mean?" he asked, the patterns she was drawing on his chest paused for a second before she continued.

"I heard a conversation I shouldn't have heard," she whispered taking a shaky breath. "There have been signs for months, all those things happening on the south side, all the bad things, he's behind it, maybe even the blackhood, and I don't know when it's going to blow up Archie, but it's going to be soon."

"Hey," he said pushing himself up and taking her with him so they were both seated and he could look at her and cup her cheek in his hand. "Maybe you just heard wrong, maybe it's not what you think."

"I know what I heard," she said pushing herself out of his arms and Archie sighed, Veronica loved her father and her father always managed to build up her trust just enough so he could break it, Archie didn't think it was intentional on Hiram's part to hurt her, he just wanted Veronica to be loyal to whatever he had to do. But Veronica had too much of a conscious, especially after her move to Riverdale to be ok with the way he conducted his business the way Hermione was.

"Is that what tonight was about?" he asked and she nodded, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall and Archie pulled her back to him, cradling her to his chest as she tried not to cry. "I can't tell you that your dad would never do any of that because we both know I'd be lying," he said and she nodded against him. "But you're not alone Ronnie, whatever happens we'll be there, I will be right there next to you no matter what."

Veronica pulled away from him so she could look into his eyes threading the fingers of her right hand into the hair at the base of his neck and leaning in to kiss him sweetly. "I love you, you know that," she said after a long stretch of silence and everything that Archie was thinking to say to her and reassure her flew out of his head. "I don't know what I'd do or where I'd go if I didn't have you."

Archie said nothing else, he couldn't, he just lay them back down and felt her fall asleep by the evenness of her breath.

"I love you too Veronica," he told her knowing she wouldn't hear it, he'd save the heartfelt confession for another day, when there was no alcohol involved, for now he'd settle for just holding her as she slept and keeping her safe from her demons until morning came and she'd have to face them without him.


	2. House at the end of the lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post 2x07

"I never thought this would ever happen to me," Veronica commented, she was sitting on a blanket on the grass at the edge of Sweet Water River, watching the water rush past and listening to the birds sing and it was so different to the hustle and bustle of New York that she craved before.

"Never thought what would happen to you?" Archie asked, he cracked an eye open to squint up at her. He was lying down with his head in her lap being lulled to sleep by the fingers threading through his hair lazily.

"That I would be this content just sitting at the edge of a river on a Saturday morning, playing with my ridiculously hot boyfriends hair," she said and he laughed lifting his head up and meeting her halfway for a kiss. "Although, knowing said boyfriend did this once with his creepy pedophilic music teacher makes me feel a little less content."

"We're making new memories Ronnie," Archie said shaking his head as he tried to forget the memories of his time with the late Miss Grundy. "I was young and stupid."

"Not that much has changed," Veronica said cheekily and Archie glared at her playfully. "I'm glad to see your taste in women has improved."

"But I fell for you the first time I saw you," he said bringing up a hand to take her's which had now gone still in his hair and intertwine their fingers on his chest. "With your cape and heels, you were a mystery from then, I kept wanting to figure you out."

"And have you?" she asked him, smiling at his little story, he had her attention from that first meeting as well, if Betty weren't interested in him she would have probably pursued him but that could have been disastrous for their relationship with their friends and each other especially with his infatuation with the music teacher back then, the fallout from their first kiss in Cheryl Blossoms closet proved that.

"I'd like to think I have," he told her chuckling. "But then I get into a biker's lair, an underground, creepy place that I was certain you would never step into and who do I find there?"

"Will you and Jughead ever let that go?" Veronica laughed and Archie shook his head no, it would be a long time before either boy forgot the shock at seeing the girls in that place.

"You guys scared us," Archie told her, his face serious as he thought about that moment. "We thought we were going to have to fight our way out, having the 2 of you there to protect, raised the stakes so much higher."

"Always so protective Archikins," Veronica smiled and then nodded to her stilettos on the edge of the blanket. "Believe it or not, those things are deadly."

Archie winced just looking at them. "I believe it."

"And Betty and I can take care of ourselves," Veronica said looking down fondly at her boy, he was so protective, it was the main reason that she never told him about Nick St. Clair's advances on her the night before he attacked Cheryl. Archie was so angry when he found out about Cheryl, she doesn't want to know what he would have done if he knew about her. At least her father was sneaky, he would injure Nick without anyone knowing that he was behind it, with no proof no-one could retaliate, Archie was more direct, he would have hunted Nick down and gotten himself hurt or killed, Veronica shivered at the thought of him hurt, maybe he wasn't the only protective one. "Do you think that her plan is going to work?"

"I don't like it, but I don't have another alternative," Archie said pushing himself up to sitting position, facing her and placing a hand across her body onto her hip. "I really wish you would stay home."

"And spend the night panicking about where you are?" she asked raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Not a chance."

"I'll come back to you, in one piece," he said with a smile, when he went into the race that's all she asked of him. "I promise."

"If I could have gotten into that car with you I would have been there," she said slipping her hand under his shirt and tracing his abs, it became her favorite thing to do after she spent the night at his place after Jughead's party, just to touch his skin and feel the muscle and warmth beneath her fingers, it calmed her. "But I couldn't so I had to sit on the sidelines and wait for you but this time Betty asked both of us to check out this house while she distracts the Blackhood, maybe we'll find a clue that he was stupid enough to leave behind and we'll unmask him and be rid of this person for good."

"You don't know how much I want that," Archie whispered, he had been on a warpath since his father was shot by this masked man, his entire life didn't revolve around finding the Blackhood anymore but he would be lying if he said that he didn't want to be the one to bring him to justice. "But I'm not risking you."

"And I'm not letting you go there alone," Veronica countered pausing her absent wandering with her fingers to look into his eyes and make sure he knew she was serious about this. "Nothing you say is going to change my mind on this."

"Yeah I know," he said frowning slightly, if something went wrong, if something happened to her, he didn't know how he would live with himself.

"Chin up Archikins," Veronica said tapping his chin and pressing a kiss to his pouted lips. "We'll survive a night at the house at the end of the lane and we'll be better together."

"Ronnie, if anything had to happen to you," he started and then shook his head, he didn't want to think about this, especially after he and Jughead heard about the reaper from the hunter they met when his van got a flat, the girls didn't know about that night yet and neither Archie nor Jughead wanted to tell them unless it were absolutely necessary. "He said that we failed his test, all of us, what if he's there and he hurts you?"

"Hey, we don't even know if we'll find anything or anyone," Veronica told him taking his face in her hands and looking worriedly into his eyes, he was so afraid of taking her with him that his reaction was scaring her. "It's just an empty house."

Archie nodded, he had a bad feeling about going into that house but he couldn't say it without feeling like he was too scared and how was he supposed to protect the people he loved if all he felt was fear. So he just tugged at Veronica's hip and hugged her to him, tucking her head under his chin and wishing he could freeze this moment.

* * *

"I still don't like the fact that you're here," Archie said softly as they slowly moved closer to the house. "And in those heels Ronnie, you can't run away in those."

"No but I can kick you with them," she said tilting her head to glare at him. "Now hush and lets go in."

The door creaked when it opened and Veronica made a face at the noise but pushed it opened all the way and walked in. The house was broken down enough that it was just a crumbling structure, there was no electricity or signs of life.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Archie asked switching his torch on when it was obvious that if there was someone waiting for them they definitely have seen them or heard them, every step creaked eerily so trying to sneak around was pointless. "Betty just said anything out of place, but there is nothing out of place except for that beam," he said looking up at the structure that didn't look very safe the way it was balancing.

"Anything that would seem relevant to the Blackhood," Veronica said walking into another room, out of Archies sight. "Archie?"

"Yeah?" Archie called looking at the fireplace, it looked like there was a handprint on the mantle, he looked around the area only to find a box with a little bow attached where the box was visible, it was under a pile of wood but it didn't look hard to get out. "Ronnie I think I found something."

He was reaching over when hands clamped over his mouth, Archie grabbed whoever was holding him and turned quickly to find Veronica with wide eyes and her finger to her lips. "There's someone else here," she mouthed and then looked over her shoulder straining to hear the house creak under someone's weight. "We need to go."

"There's a box," he said as softly as he could and Veronica shook her head.

"If that's the Blackhood we need to get out now," she whispered quickly, the Blackhood was out for blood, all of them were now sinners in his eyes, he wouldn't hesitate to take them out. Veronica turned to leave when she heard footsteps rushing toward where they were. "Shit."

Archie looked around but couldn't find anything to use as a weapon, at least nothing that he could get to in time. He had just pulled Veronica behind him when 2 figures burst through the side door. "Jug? Betty?" he asked and the two nodded looking around the room as if they were waiting for something.

"You guys are fine," Betty panted relieved, putting her hands on her knees and breathing deeply. "We need to get out of here now."

"Wait there's a box under the wood here," Archie said, motioning behind him and Betty shook her head.

"There's no time," she said already reaching out and tugging him out of the house with her with more force than he thought she had.

"What is going on?" Veronica asked when they were far enough away from the house as Jughead and Betty thought they needed to be, the couple was panting heavily. "Did you guys run here?"

"No," Jughead said recovering faster than Betty did. "But we ran far enough."

"Guy's there's something in that house, it wouldn't have taken me more than a minute to get it out," Archie said looking at Veronica who shrugged and squeezed his hand that hadn't left hers since they realized they weren't alone.

Archie had barely finished speaking when the house they had just vacated collapsed on itself. "It doesn't matter, you guys are safe," Betty said finally recovering enough to slow her breathing down and looking up at her friends who were just staring open-mouthed at the cloud of dust. "We can find something else on him."

"It was that beam that was out of place," Veronica said to Archie, trying to lighten his mood and he just let out a sharp laugh and wrapped his arms securely around her burying his face in her hair, he knew this was a bad idea. "How did you guys know?"

"The Blackhood called Betty, we tried to keep him busy while you guys searched this place," Jughead said looking over at the rubble. "But he figured it out, I still don't know how."

"I hesitated when he asked a question but it was so insignificant, he already knew you guys were here, he just needed that hesitation to tell me that and we knew we had to get you out of here," Betty said biting on the inside of her lip.

"So now he's playing games with you?" Archie asked picking his head of Veronica's to look at Betty. "And bargaining our lives?"

"He's been playing a game since he sent me that letter at the Blue and Gold," Betty said leaning into Jughead's arms when he opened them for her. "So far he's just been bargaining with Polly's life, but it's changed."

"This wasn't even his style," Archie argued, staring at the rubble. "With my dad and Miss Grundy and Midge and Moose, it was personal like he had to be there to see what he's doing."

"He's getting cocky," Jughead said but took what Archie said seriously and looked around them for any other movement of someone who would be watching them, drawing Betty closer to him.

"I feel like I'm in an episode of Pretty Little Liars," Veronica said to break the tension when she felt Archie tense up behind her as if he were ready to explode and then shuddered at her own statement as the other 3 laughed, with the mood lightened the only thing she wanted to do was leave. "Let's get out of here, this place is creepy enough."

"Pop's is still open," Jughead mentioned and Archie laughed.

"Pop's is always open," he said, letting Jughead and Betty lead them out to the car they brought. "Next time we go digging in a serial killers lair, I don't care how sexy you look in those heels, you are wearing combat boots."

Veronica laughed out loud and pulled the hand clasped in hers so that his arm wrapped around her shoulders. "How about we just hope there's never a next time, Archikins," she said and Archie grinned and nodded, that was probably a better option.


	3. Mad World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My 2x08 break up fix

"I am really happy my dad had this place soundproofed," Archie muttered as he tried to catch his breath and Veronica laughed, stretching herself out on top of him and placing her hands on either side of his face so she could push herself up slightly. "You were not quiet tonight."

"Neither were you," she said kissing him and beaming at him when she pulled away. She and Archie had were in such a good space and the past week or two especially had been incredible for them, she didn't think there was a day when they weren't all over each other and Veronica loved it, the passion and the heat that they generated together made her life feel complete.

"Where are you going?" he asked, using a hand on her hip to stop her from moving, pulling her back down to him for another long kiss which Veronica willingly obliged.

"I'm going to put your shirt on," she told him and he rolled his eyes, she always managed to steal his clothes, soon he would probably have to make a trip to her house to borrow his own shirts. "As lovely as this little blanket is, it covers nothing and I'm getting cold."

"You could just stay pressed against me and you wouldn't feel cold at all," Archie told her flipping them over so she was underneath him. Veronica tickled him and jumped up from underneath him when he squeaked and moved.

"You would like that," she laughed, throwing him his boxers once she had his shirt on and slipping on her underwear as well. "But we are in your music room and I want you to play me a song Archikins."

"Really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded running her finger over the drum set his father had dug up from his old band days and looking at him from under hooded eyes that made him want to do anything she asked him to. Veronica had always been musically inclined and they'd performed together multiple times but he'd never actually just sat down and played a song for her.

"Yes really, since the Black Hood has cast his dark, evil cloud of death over us, I feel as if your music has been pushed to the side, which is a shame because you are amazing Archikins," Veronica told him leaning down to push his hair back and kiss him again, she couldn't get enough of him. "Come on babe, show me your skills, serenade me."

"You know my skills," he said standing and spinning her before sitting down on one of the stools and grabbing his guitar. He knew what mood she was in, he could see the energy in her so he started strumming, it wasn't any specific song but it was something that she could dance to and that's exactly what she did.

Archie smiled as Veronica, in just his shirt and her underwear and those pearls that never came off, twirled in the middle of his garage, her eyes closed and her arms up as she moved to the beat he was strumming. If he could freeze this moment, have them stay like this, he would be so happy.

Something was changing but he didn't want to think about it yet, right now he wanted to enjoy her, he wanted to enjoy how carefree she looked, how her body moved, how much he still wanted her and how much she seemed to always want him.

"Come on turn the radio on and Honey let's dance, dance, dance," he sang, the tune he was playing changing to meet the tune of his song and Veronica threw him the most adorable smile because he knew that out of all of his songs this was probably her favourite, so it wasn't a surprise when she jumped in and harmonized with him.

"Come on, play the remix loud and Honey we'll dance, dance, dance," she sang, winking to him and dancing her way closer to him. "For the rest of our lives, I'm not ready to go yet, we've got history to forget."

All her dancing led her to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed his cheek before laying her cheek on his shoulder, using her arm to make the motion of a wave in time with the tune of his guitar.

He smiled as she nuzzled his neck and started playing "I got you", it amazed him that she remembered his songs as well as he did, so much that when she started singing along, he couldn't do it anymore. He put his guitar down and pulled her around to straddle him and kissed her pulling her body as close as he could to his.

"This is why you shouldn't have put this back on because now I need to take it off again," he told her, unbuttoning the shirt and Veronica smiled against his lips before pulling away and leaning back and watching him as he concentrated on his task. "What?"

"Nothing," she said tilting her head to the side. "I just want to look at you like this, flushed cheeks and messy hair, my favourite smile."

Archie blushed deeper and leaned in to kiss her again, pushing the shirt of her shoulders, this day was everything he wanted, he hoped that they never changed.

But of course they did.

It was his fault too, he told her he loved her and then he pushed her to say it back. Looking back now it was obvious that she wasn't ready to say it, he should have listened to his father, he should have stuck to his words before they sang when he told her it was ok that she didn't say it yet instead of using her relief to hurt her.

"She broke up with me because she couldn't say that she loved me," Archie admitted to Betty one afternoon at Pop's when they were both tired of being depressed alone and decided to be depressed together with milkshakes.

"So why don't you go tell her that you want her back and that you'll wait for her," Betty asked and Archie sighed. "You guys have something so special, it would be a shame to let that go."

"She said she can't go there with me, so she can't love me," Archie said clenching his jaw. "There's no point in talking to her."

"Arch, this doesn't make any sense," Betty told him frowning. "We've known Veronica long enough, there's definitely something else going on here."

"Well if you have that reason then please tell me because I need to know," Archie said pushing his hands through his hair. "I just had to tell her how I felt."

"That's not your fault Archie, of course you had to tell her if that's how you feel," Betty told him. "Veronica does love you, she's proven that, you know that, she just hasn't been able to say it, so you need to talk to her."

"She's said it once, but she was really drunk and she had no idea of what happened most of that night," Archie confessed and Betty's eyes went wide.

"Well there you go, you need to talk to her, properly talk to her and listen to what she has to say," Betty said leaning forward as if to get him to look at her and hear what she had to say. "I've watched her with you Archie, when your dad got shot, she was so panicked, she had no idea what to do, if it were anyone else she would have probably packed her bags and been out of there but she stuck by you through it all, you can't still say that she doesn't love you after that."

"She's done so much more," Archie said sighing again, thinking back to how Veronica stuck by him and fixed up his mistakes. "I really can't lose her Bets."

"And you won't not if you fight for her," Betty said and Archie bit his lip and nodded, for all the times Veronica fought for him since they started dating, it was time for him to start fighting for her.

"So what are you going to do about Jughead?" he asked Betty, he knew that she was avoiding talking about her own relationship.

"The same thing I've been forcing you to do," Betty said with a sigh, tilting her head to the side and smiling sadly. "I'm going to fight for him whether he wants it or not."

"Here's to getting them back," Archie said picking up his milkshake and clinking it with hers. They left Pop's in happier moods than when they walked it, they had grown apart from the beginning of the year but Archie was glad they had this time to get back their friendship, even if the circumstances were less than perfect.

* * *

It took Archie a couple days to approach Veronica, mostly because he was terrified of going to her house and seeing her father. Hiram Lodge was terrifying on a normal day, but what would he do to Archie after Archie broke his daughter's heart.

So he enlisted Betty's help and had her convince Veronica to help her with something related to Jughead, sending Veronica to the Cooper's barn to find an obscure object that would convince Jughead that Bughead was not over no matter what he said.

"This barn looks as creepy as that abandoned house Betty sent us to," Veronica muttered to herself, cringing when her heels sunk into the ground on her last few steps to the barn. "Why couldn't I have searched her bedroom."

Veronica grabbed the handle of the door and cringed at the rust on the door and pulled the door open to find the most beautiful and unexpected scene that she ever thought she would.

There were candles lit around the barn and red roses in random areas, with fairy lights on the wall for that extra special lighting effect and blankets and pillows on the floor. Veronica wondered where this came from, she never thought either Mr or Mrs Cooper was very romantic. Veronica started backing out slowly, she had to get out of there before either of the Cooper parents found her in there, Betty would have to find her items later.

She turned around to open the door and leave when she saw Archie standing there in a suit, with his guitar strapped to his back, his hand on the back of his head and a sheepish smile on his face.

"Archie," she said, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach. She hadn't seen him since the night she told him that they couldn't be together because she couldn't say that she loved him, the night he made her feel like the world's worst girlfriend for needing time, the night she cried in her father's arms for the first time since she was a child. "We need to leave before whoever set this up gets here."

"Well I set this up so we're good," he said with a small smile, watching her look around the room shocked before composing herself and then make to move out of the barn, only to be blocked by him.

"I'm sure Betty will love this," she said not looking up to meet his eyes just standing defiantly in front of his arm waiting for him to move it so she could leave. "If you could let me leave, I'll get her to come here."

"No, Veronica," Archie said almost laughing, not dropping his arm and resisting the urge to touch her. He couldn't believe how wrong she was getting it. "This isn't for Betty or any of the Coopers actually, this is for you."

"For me?" Veronica asked curiously stepping back from the door to look at him and Archie stepped properly into the barn and closed the door. "This ... you did this for me? By yourself?"

"Betty helped get you in here but yes, the rest I did myself," he said, looking very unsure of himself until Veronica smiled and he let himself relax and smile as well. "I would have done it in my garage but I doubt even Betty could get you in there right now."

"Oh, Archie, this is," she started to say, cutting herself out when she couldn't find the words and putting her hands over her mouth, instead choosing to look around the room with the knowledge that she wasn't trespassing into someone else's romantic scene, that this was hers. "Why?"

"Because I love you," he said firmly watching her body tense up in front of him and he realized maybe that wasn't the best way to start the conversation but now that he did, he just had to continue. "I know that you're probably not ready to hear it and you're definitely not ready to say it, contrary to how I acted the other day I don't want to pressure you into saying things that you aren't ready to say."

"Then why did you say that," she whispered looking down, so soft that he barely heard her.

"I wanted you to say it, I wanted you to be in love with me like I am with you," he said defending himself and hating himself for the pain he caused her. "When I told you that you didn't have to say it back, I wasn't expecting you to take that option so easily and it hurt Veronica, it hurt that you just couldn't say it back, it was like you didn't care at all, like you were heartless."

Veronica nodded and turned to walk out of the barn, she just reached the door when Archie put his hand on the door and blocked her path out again. "Let me go."

"No," he said shaking his head and watching her start to lose that composure she was fighting so hard to control. "You need to hear this, these past few days without you have been unbearable and knowing that I hurt you made it worse, Veronica I know how you feel about me, and as much as I want you to say the words, I'll wait for you because the alternative, losing you, is not an option, until the day comes when you tell me without doubt that you don't love me I won't let you go."

Veronica's tears were falling freely down her face, her hair was covering her face from Archie but he could tell by the hitch of her shoulders that she was crying. He didn't want to touch her yet, not when he didn't know if she wanted him too but he hated seeing her like this and not being able to comfort her. It didn't happen often, maybe twice ever that she even needed his comfort but there was never a moment when he was unsure if he could give it.

"Ronnie say something, please," he begged, feeling the emotions build up in himself as he watched her helplessly.

"I can't," she said finally turning to him, her eyes were red rimmed and her make-up was smudged on her cheeks and there was a wrinkle on her forehead that if they weren't in such a strange space he would have reached out and smoothed out. "I can't say it, I don't know how."

"It's ok, I'm not going to ask you to, I'm going to wait for you," Archie told her again taking a step closer still unsure if he could reach for her or not. "I promise Ronnie, just stay with me."

Veronica nodded stepping into his unsure arms and wrapping herself in him, she missed him more than he could possibly imagine. When his arms closed around her tightly, she smiled for what felt like the first time since he told her he loved her and breathed him in, he smelt like perfection.

"Why is your guitar on your back?" she asked, trying to clear her throat when she ended up croaking out her question.

"I was hoping to serenade you," he said laughing nervously as she allowed him to guide her to the blankets on the floor and he sat in front of her with his guitar on his lap ready to play. "So I might have ruined a song that you really liked and I wanted to sing it with you, to hopefully make it up to you."

"Archie, my voice feels so raw," she said touching her throat and Archie shrugged already starting to strum the first few chords as he spoke.

"It only you and I, no-one else is going to come here, Betty managed to get everyone out of here for as long as we need," he said smiling when she gave him a smile.

"Remind me to thank her," Veronica said dropping her eyes to his skilled hands moving on his guitar and then closed her eyes as he began to sing.

"All around me are familiar faces ..." he started, watching her and hoping that he never hurt her as selfishly as he did that night.

"Their tears are filling up their glasses ..." she sang and Archie smiled, she sounded like an angel.

It would be ok, maybe she couldn't say the words to him just yet but her actions and how she took care of him proved that she did love him, or at least strongly liked him. He wanted to be with her and she wanted to be with him, it was enough, it had to be.

"Mad world."

"Mad world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written after that breakup episode, it follows from the previous one shots so her I love you is in there from chapter one and I needed the fluff so badly 
> 
> Enjoy (^^,)


	4. Three

Things always happened in three's and that was the most true for Archie Andrews in the December following his fathers shooting. Christmas week solved three of the biggest issues in his life in the most promising ways.

The first thing was that the black hood was finally unmasked and he was dead. As much as Archie knew that there were things that didn't add up, he didn't care about that. All he cared about was that the black hood was gone and that they were safe again, that Betty was now safe again. They could attempt to go back to their normal lives without the serial killers interference.

The second thing was his father's medical bill, the day after Christmas they received a phone call to say that an anonymous donor had paid the bill, in full. This meant that Archie and his dad could breathe the biggest sigh of relief, this meant that they wouldn't lose their house, that his father wouldn't have to be stressed all the time and pick up extra jobs just to make ends meet. This meant that Archie and Fred had a chance to reset their lives to the moments before the black hood walked into Pop's and decided to play God.

And finally the third, and possibly his favourite of his three Christmas miracles was that Veronica Lodge had told him that she loved him, that she needed him and his goodness in her life. She. Loved Him. There was mistletoe above their heads when she made him come outside his house to the patio where it was freezing and she was wearing a dress and heels that covered nothing of her legs, there she kissed him and smiled coyly at him before telling him that she loved him.

"What are you smiling about?" Veronica asked amused, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"You," he said, his smile brightening as she walked toward him and placed their hot chocolate on the table, grabbing the remote to start their movie before taking a seat next to him on the couch and let him cocoon her with the blanket covering them. "I'm picturing how you had to stand on your toes to hook the mistletoe onto the roof of my patio."

"Veronica Lodge does not stand on her toes to do anything," she pouted and Archie kissed her lips before she could pull away. "Except for when my mother put me in a ballet class but that was forced."

"Your heels are high Ronnie but not that high," he laughed as she frowned at him. "I can't imagine you standing on one of the chairs either."

"Of course not," Veronica said rolling her eyes and then looked at him sheepishly. "I had Andre hang it up when he dropped me off."

"That's cheating, you were supposed to do all that by yourself," he teased and digging his fingers into her waist and tickling her. "Because you said you did it by yourself, what was the words again? 'Hung by moi', I believe?"

"Archikins," Veronica squealed as he tickled her. "You were supposed to just believe me and not question my mistletoe hanging skills."

"I think you have to make it up to me now that you've lied to me," he told her dramatically.

"It doesn't matter how I got the mistletoe up there, it got you to kiss me so I could build up to tell you that I love you too," she told him and Archie smiled wide like he had been every time she said those words, and every time his smile made her smile as well.

"Say that again," he whispered dipping his head to touch his forehead to hers and she felt her heart flutter at the wonder in his voice.

"I love you Archie Andrews," she repeated, a smile lighting her face at the fact that she could say the words so easily to him and the way his eyes shone at his feelings being reciprocated. "You are everything that's pure in this world," she smiled threading her fingers through his hair and leaning in to kiss him.

"You're totally forgiven for not hanging up the mistletoe," he said smiling against her lips and she laughed throwing her head back. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"And go where?" she laughed. "Archikins, it's freezing cold out there and we have hot chocolate and blankets and movies and body heat right here."

"Hmmm," he moaned when she pressed herself closer to him wrapping her arms around his shoulders snugly, kissing his neck. "We can't just stay here the whole day Ronnie, your parents are probably going to walk in here at any minute and kick me out."

"You need to stop worrying about my parents so much," she told him, slipping her hands underneath his shirt and running a finger down his side where he was ticklish and Archie shivered. "They are out Christmas shopping and between their monstrous gift lists for each other and the gifts I requested, they should be out for the rest of the day."

"I just want them to like me," he said his cheeks turning pink as he thought of the implications of telling her this.

"Are you planning on sticking around for a long time?" Veronica teased gently when she caught on and touching his cheeks.

"For as long as you'll have me," he told her softly, wondering if it was too soon after saying I love you and getting over her fear of saying those words to be bringing up the future.

"What if I want you to stay with me forever?" she asked shyly, tilting her head to the side.

"Then your parents need to love me," he told her as seriously as he could and she laughed, the mood broken.

"They'll love you, but not as much as I do," she said pushing at his chest so that she could sit up straight next to him.

"My dad already thinks you're the best thing since sliced bread," Archie told her rolling his eyes and handed her one of the cups of hot chocolate watching her hold back a laugh.

"Well your dad is the best judge of character," Veronica told him as she sipped on her drink and looked up at him slyly and he narrowed his eyes playfully at her.

After Fred was shot and Archie was on a mission to find the black hood Veronica took up some of the little duties that Archie forgot to do and pretended like it was Archie who had asked her to do it, like pick up Fred's medication, subtly make sure he wasn't in any pain that would require another trip to the hospital and clean up around the house, something Veronica would never be seen doing in her own house, but she did at the Andrews because it would help Archie, she should have known that she was in love back then.

Fred and Veronica talked a lot in the month it took for him to get back onto his feet enough that she and Archie didn't have to help out anymore. Fred found his son's girlfriend much different than he imagined she would be, especially knowing Hermione and Hiram Lodge, he saw how much this girl cared for his son and indirectly for him and there was something about her that managed to ground Archie when he started to obsess over the blackhood.

"I don't like that he always takes your side," Archie complained twisting his mouth. "Now no-one takes my side, not even Jughead."

"That's because I'm always right Archikins," Veronica teased.

"You are not always right," Archie pouted rolling his eyes and Veronica lifted an eyebrow as she waited for him to expand on that statement. "I can't think of a situation right now where you were wrong but I will, give me time."

"You're lucky you're so cute," Veronica laughed leaning in to kiss him. "Now shut up and watch the movie."

* * *

"Your parents are really going to hate me," Archie murmured and Veronica laughed breathlessly next to him. "Like really, really hate me."

"They'll get over it," Veronica told him, picking herself up to press her lips to his and kiss him as sweetly as she could. "Although we should probably get dressed before they get back so you can keep coming here."

"How much time do you think we have?" he asked picking his hand up to look at the watch she had bought him for Christmas.

"Enough," she whispered taking Archie's hand before he could put it back down and pulling it over to her face, kissing his hand before leaning her cheek into his palm and Archie smiled at her, she always wanted extra skin on skin contact after they'd had sex. "It's funny."

"What is?" he asked curiously, letting his fingers trace the shape of her ear before running down her neck slowly, making her shiver.

"That the only things we are wearing are our Christmas presents to each other," Veronica mused and Archie furrowed his brows, curling his fingers around the locket pendant on the necklace around her neck with the hand that held the watch she had given him.

"I never would have noticed that," Archie laughed, his fingers following the dip on the side of the heart until he found the latch and clicked it open. "I love this picture of you."

"I love you," she said and Archies smile got bigger and his cheeks redder as he looked up to find Veronica watching him with the softest smile on her face, the smile he noticed was reserved only for him.

"I love you too," he said against her lips before he kissed her, pulling her back on top of him before changing his mind and flipping them over so her back was on the couch and he was hovering above her.

"Archikins," Veronica giggled, biting his lower lip playfully. "Promise me we'll survive whatever gets thrown at us, promise me we'll make it."

"As long as you fight with me Ronnie, I'm not letting you go," he said frowning slightly at the change in topic and her mood. Veronica had never told anyone she loved them before, she never felt love and she had never wanted the vulnerability attached to it but she was completely in love with the boy lying on top of her trying not to crush her with his weight and she was terrified of what that love could do to her. "I won't break your heart."

Veronica didn't say anything, she just pushed his hair off his forehead and smiled at him before pulling his face down to kiss him again.

The elevator pinged, somehow breaking into their fuzzy minds and Veronica froze making Archie pick his head up to question what happened and then gasped and jumped off her when it registered. He grabbed pieces of clothes from the floor, throwing her, her clothes and trying to jump into his as quickly as he could before Mr and Mrs Lodge entered the room.

Archie collapsed back onto the couch next to Veronica, panting heavily and looked at her to see the same frazzled look on her face as she adjusted her hair and reached over to wipe his lips and whatever lipstick had transferred to his lips.

"How was the movie?" Hermione asked when they finally walked into the room the teenagers were in.

"Great," Veronica said nodding and pulling the blanket back around them, unsure of why she was so unsure about leaning onto Archie with her parents looking at her like that.

"What did you watch?" Hiram asked frowning at the teenagers.

"Die hard," Archie said clearing his throat and sitting up straighter, explaining further when Hiram raised his eyebrow. "It's a surprisingly Christmassy movie."

"Very 'Christmassy'," Veronica said teasing her boyfriend who was cringing at the use of that word to describe Die Hard to his girlfriend's father. "How did your shopping go?"

"It went well," Hermione said with a smile, holding up her arms to show off the bags of shopping they had gotten done. "And no surprises with my account this time."

"Isn't that wonderful," Veronica commented tightly and Archie nudged his girlfriend when her body tensed up next to his and she just looked to him and shook her head to tell him that it wasn't anything for him to worry about.

"We're going to go put this away," Hermione said turning to her husband and tilting her head to his study. "Hiram."

"Yes of course," Hiram said picking up the bags that he had dropped to the floor when they walked in, he took a step toward him wife before thinking better of it and turning toward the teens on the couch and looked directly at Archie. "A word of advice, the next time you try to put your shirt back on before I walk into the room, make sure it's on the right way."

Archie's eyes widened and he looked down at his shirt that was on inside out and slapped his hand to his face. Hiram looked amused as he followed his wife to his study, Archie scrambled to get his shirt off and back on the right way.

As soon as the door shut behind her parents, Veronica began to laugh uncontrollably and Archie followed dropping his head to her shoulder. "That was close," he said through his sputtering laughter and she nodded.

"Next time we'll go to my room," Veronica laughed ruffling his hair before he picked his head off her shoulder.

"No love, next time we're not going to be anywhere our parents could just walk into," he said taking her hand in his and collapsing back against the couch.

"Don't be so dramatic," Veronica said taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "He didn't suspect anything, which is surprising."

"Do you want to get out of here now?" he asked, really hoping that she wanted to leave now and Veronica nodded. "Where to?"

"Anywhere," she said jumping up and grabbing their coats.

"Pop's it is," Archie laughed helping her into her coat once he had his on and grabbing her hand to pull her out of the Pembrooke. "I really need to stop testing my luck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite fluffy one-shot but it turned out pretty cute anyway, this is the end of the cannon-ish chapters and from here I jump into the future, sort of ... There's only one more completed chapter, I'll post that soon and then I'll update whenever I find the time to finish a chapter  
> Also yes I know Hiram Lodge is ridiculously OOC just go with it :D I'll try to make him more TV Hiram in other stories


	5. Graduation Day

"It's graduation day," Archie's mother gushed as he came down the stairs in his suit. "Where's your gown?"

"Dad has it," Archie said smiling and giving his mother a little twirl. "How much time do we have left?"

"More than enough, Betty is meeting us here as soon as Alice lets her through the door," Mary said with a roll of her eyes and Archie laughed, Alice Cooper managed to frustrate all the ladies in Riverdale even his generally very calm mother. "Where is your father with that gown? I want to see you with it on."

"I'm here," Fred grumbled coming to stand next to her and grin at his son. "Kid, put this on before your mother starts complaining again."

Archie put on the blue gown and cap, feeling infinitely older than he thought he would. He let his parents fawn over him for a bit before his best friends burst through the door, Jughead and Betty had their gowns on, beaming at him like they couldn't believe they were actually here. And after the last couple years in Riverdale he didn't blame them.

"Oh look at the three of you," Mary said clapping her hands together. "I remember when you were just starting school, and here you are still friends, graduating, Fred where's the camera?"

"It's right here," Fred laughed taking a picture of the three of them and glancing at the picture on the wall of the three of them at their first day of school. "I swear you weren't this excited the day Archie was born," he said and then ducked out of the way when Mary's hand shot out to hit him in the arm.

Archie rolled his eyes and shared a look with Jughead and Betty, his mother was being a little too dramatic but that's what all mothers do on graduation day apparently. After taking a few more pictures, the high school graduates piled into Archie's new car and they drove off to the school for the ceremony.

"I can't believe your mom bought you a car and then drove it all the way from California to surprise you," Jughead said running his hands over the dashboard and Archie grinned, he couldn't believe it either, his parents weren't struggling to make ends meet but they weren't rolling in cash either and after his dad's medical bill had been sorted out, he definitely felt better about his parents spending as much as they did on him.

"It does help that he has a full scholarship to collage," Betty told her boyfriend, slotting herself between the 2 seats and taking Jugheads hand when he reached for her. "And he's an only child."

"I'm going to need this to visit you guys and come back home, and this baby is going to take us on that road trip, finally," Archie said laughing, the three of them would be separated once the holidays were done, Jughead and Archie had decided to finally do that road trip they were supposed to do the weekend of the 4th of July that Archie was with Grundy. One last hoorah as kids before they leave home and go out into the real world.

"You know, the fact that you and V are going to be on the same campus is going to save you so much fuel," Betty commented and Jughead laughed out loud because they both knew that Veronica and Archie hated being separated no matter how independent they claimed they were of each other.

"Yeah, you can barely spend 5 minutes away from each other," Jughead joked and Archie rolled his eyes but laughed with them. "The strings that tie you together are too short."

"You're one to talk, you guys are going to be on the same campus too, and you're living together," Archie retorted, his best friends were worse than he was but he loved them for it.

"I give it 2 months before you and Veronica forego this separate apartment idea," Jughead said tapping his chin.

"6 months, they're both stubborn enough to see it through the 1st semester," Betty said as Archie turned into the school parking lot and found a parking.

"I think the both of you need a new hobby," he said laughing as he got out of the car. "Ronnie and I are perfectly fine with being apart from each other if we had to be."

He had just turned away from his car toward the hall when another body slammed into his and his arms were suddenly full of his favorite girl. "Hi Archikins," Veronica smiled kissing him sweetly and then frowning as she wiped the lipstick from his lips.

Behind him Betty and Jughead were snickering. "Sure you can," he heard Jughead say. Veronica raised an eyebrow at him and he just shook his head to tell her to ignore them as usual.

"Let's go find our seats," Betty said tugging Veronica out of Archie's arms so she could walk ahead with her friend and leave the boys behind.

"I've never been a sappy person but I think we got lucky with those two," Jughead commented as they walked.

"Yeah we did," Archie replied, winking at Veronica when she turned back to look at him.

The ceremony was not as long as Archie was expecting, Weatherbee loved his speeches but Josie and the Pussycats refused to have anyone bored to sleep before their performance and cut the old man off halfway into his speech so they could perform. By the time they had officially concluded the ceremony Archie was ready to party, Reggie had sorted out the finer details, the rest of the students in their year just had to show up. The one thing Archie forgot to account for was parents, and his were standing at the door as he left waiting with the camera so it was an hour of posing and calming down until he wasn't sure he wanted to party so much as he wanted to sleep for 2 straight days.

"Come on guys, get in closer," Fred instructed motioning with his hands at what the four of them should be doing.

"Does he want us to fuse together?" Jughead asked through his teeth as he smiled and Betty elbowed him. The boys were on the ends trying to do what Fred Andrews wanted them to do without squashing the girls in the center.

Fred snapped the picture and gushed over the fact that they were graduating with Mary, as they had been doing the whole day, "They are so excited," Veronica told Archie wrapping her arms around his neck and touching her nose to his, she wasn't going to kiss him until the pictures were done because the lipstick she was wearing smudged too easily and she was tired of wiping it of his face and reapplying it on to hers. "All of them are, it's like they never thought we'd make it here."

"I think they're just excited that we're done with school and not their problem anymore," Archie joked, his arms circling around her waist to press her closer to him and Veronica smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Do you think we could skip dinner with our families and just go somewhere together for a while, enjoy our new school-less freedom, preferably alone."

"I would find the best route to sneak us out if one very surly Hiram Lodge wasn't watching us like a hawk," she whispered and Archie's eyes went up to see Veronica's father standing next to his parents with his arms crossed watching them. "It won't be so bad, Jughead and Betty will be there with their families too and you know how much Alice Cooper likes to have the attention on her."

Archie laughed and leaned down to kiss her which she reluctantly obliged, she was getting rid of that lipstick as soon as she could, she would not be afraid of kissing her boyfriend because of lipstick. The parents of the core-four decided to have a joint dinner to celebrate their graduation which promised to be ... exciting, for lack of a better word.

Unbeknownst to the couple Fred Andrews snapped a picture of their sweet moment and smiled at it on his camera screen. "I'm framing this and giving it to them on their wedding day," he said.

Hermione looked over his shoulder and smiled at the picture as well, "What makes you think they're going to last that long?" she asked, she liked Archie and she would love if he was the boy Veronica chose to spend the rest of her life with but high school romances rarely lasted and she knew her daughter and relationships, so far Archie Andrews had exceeded all her expectations but she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"They will, just you wait," Fred said smiling as he snapped another pic of the teens smiling at each other, ever since he was shot he had a feeling about Veronica and Archie, it was like a dream that he kept trying to remember but it had faded too much for him to grasp onto anything, the feeling it left him with was that his son was happy. "My boy is in love, he won't let her get away, not easily."

* * *

"Things could not be more uncomfortable right now," Veronica murmured under her breath as she ran a hand up and down Archie's thigh to get him to stop his nervous leg bopping. She looked up and caught Betty's eye, right before the blond covered her face with her hands. As predicted Alice Cooper found a way to bring up something from FP's past and it all just descended from there with all of the parents throwing insults at each other and referring back to their high school days. "They're going to get us kicked out."

"You are very distracting right now," Archie said leaning in so he could speak into her ear and Veronica smirked knowingly, he could not concentrate on anything that was happening with her hand moving on his leg like that. "Let's get out of here."

"Best idea I've heard all night Archikins," she said squeezing his leg and looking at the watch on his wrist. "Reggie's party is probably in full swing."

"I'll get Jug's attention, how do we get out of here?" he asked slouching in his seat so he could kick Jughead's foot, motioning to the door when his friend looked up.

"The most direct way," Veronica said standing up and pushing her chair back loud enough that the conversation at the table paused, they could just sneak out but she wasn't in any mood for a lecture if they were caught and with the tone of the conversation around the table none of the parents were going to let them get away with sneaking out. "As lovely as this evening has been, we graduates would like to enjoy the rest of our evening, we'll call if we need anything."

With that she grabbed Archie's hand and basically dragged him out of the restaurant without waiting for a reply from the silent parents and not even looking back to see if Betty and Jughead were following them. "Well at least they waited till desert to start talking," Jughead said as soon as they reached Archie's car. "Although it would have been nice if I could finish that in peace."

"Do you ever stop thinking about food?" Veronica joked looking back at Jughead and Betty in the backseat and resting her hand high up on Archie's thigh as he drove. Betty was too quiet so Jughead just glared mockingly at Veronica and leaned in toward his girlfriend to cheer her up.

Archie took Veronica's hand in his and linked their fingers, holding it in one place. "Let me get us there safely and then you can distract me all you want," Archie said softly and Veronica smiled smugly.

Riverdale was a small town, it didn't take a very long time to get from one side of town to where Reggie's house was, the party was in full swing, the couples got out of the car to find Kevin standing on the grass with his arms crossed waiting for them.

"You were supposed to be here an hour ago, I've spent most of the night with Cheryl following me around," he complained as soon as they were close enough, while he and Cheryl generally got on like a house on fire, tonight she was unbearable, until her minions showed up. "Where were you guys?"

"Our parents decided to act out a Real Housewives of Riverdale reunion," Veronica quipped and Kevin made a face.

"Ok, then we need to get some drinks in you," he said ushering them into the commotion where they got separated, Archie to the football players and Veronica with Betty and Kevin to the Vixens, Jughead found the kids who were taking over the Blue and Gold and sat with them while he waited for Betty to do her rounds with Veronica, they were social butterflies he was a wallflower..

At the end of the night Archie found Veronica on the balcony he found her at months before, this time there were no problems she was working through, she just wanted a moment alone with him after they were separated for most of the night.

"I feel like I haven't spent any time alone with you today," she said wrapping herself in his arms and he leaned down and kissed her.

"You could have come to my house before graduation, we would have had an hour at least," he said, even though his parents were crazy with the camera that day, if Veronica were there they would have let him have time with her. "Instead of flattening me when I got to the school."

Veronica laughed and rolled her eyes. "I know, but I thought I'd give you some alone time with Jughead and Betty," she said taking ahold of his collar with both her hands. "I know you guys were like the three musketeers and as much as I like inserting myself into this group like I've always been there, you needed your moment with them."

"Hmmm maybe if they weren't a couple it would have felt like that," he joked and she smirked. Jughead and Betty were on a different level with each other, sometimes that left Archie and Veronica a little lost. "Besides, I can't even remember what it was like without you in our little circle."

"Well then I've infiltrated the gang too well for my own good," she laughed. "Do you think we'll ever get to the Bughead level of relationships."

"Bughead," he asked amused. "I don't know what kind of level that is, but Ronnie, didn't you know, we're on our own kind of level, the kind that defies all the laws of high school relationships."

"Even with our track records?" she asked, smiling at his words and tugging at his loose tie.

"What track record?" he asked and Veronica raised her very sharp eyebrow. His relationship jumping, Grundy, Valerie and then her all in the space of a couple months, she doesn't even know about the girls that came before that. He knew all about her phobia of commitment, he was the first boy she formally referred to as her boyfriend, and she was still scared she was going to screw that up. "I don't care about our track records or what other people say, we're going to be together forever, didn't you get the memo."

"Loud and clear," she said punctuating each word with a kiss.

"Want to get back to the party, we aren't going to see these guys until the reunion in 10 years," he joked and Veronica rolled her eyes and pressed herself closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder and swaying them as if a slow song were playing.

"No, let's just stay here a while," she said and Archie smiled as he danced slowly with her, pressing a kiss to her temple and just enjoyed the feel of her in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : When I started this one-shot series, this is the first thing that I wrote, I wanted to follow Fred's 2x01 visions or at least just be in the same realm as those visions, without the shooter killing Fred of course, but as my brain kept working I decided that the one-shots should start from before this to give this series a little more to work with, and then I decided to follow the show which did not work as well as I hoped, there wasn't enough freedom with following the show and I want this one-shot series to be a future one so I have officially completely diverted from the show, I think I've followed everything until 2x09 and here we are
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this graduation little one shot, if you have any requests for future Varchie let me know, I'm still deciding if I want this series to jump back and forth between times or to have them grow with the one-shots, I'll decide but what do you guys think?
> 
> Until Next Time(^^,)


	6. Camping

"So Archie, in all of his 12 year old glory, tried to attack the camp instructor for making me cry," Betty said leaning over to pinch her red-headed friends cheek on her way to her own seat across him with more marshmallows. "Without knowing the full story."

"So you've always had this saving people complex, even from back then," Veronica laughed and Archie rolled his eyes.

"In my defence, she was crying and he was standing in front of her looking really scary," he said, defending himself. "How was I supposed to know she was just being a brat."

"I would not call wanting to move to a new bed after Katie said there was a snake under my bed, being a brat," Betty said indignantly and Jughead laughed popping another s'more into his mouth. "Just the thought," she said shivering.

"And yet here we are camping," Jughead said bumping her shoulder with his. "Snakes could slither their creepy bodies into our tents as we sleep."

Both girls shivered uncomfortably and Veronica buried her face in Archies chest, this was the last thing she wanted to think about. The four of them were on a week long road trip, starting with camping just outside of Riverdale before the couples went their separate ways.

"How's your first camping experience going Ronnie," Archie asked laughing when she refused to move her face.

"I'm sleeping in the car," Veronica said when she finally turned her face toward the fire and her other 2 friends.

"Relax, no snakes are going to get you tonight," Jughead said grinning and wrapping the blanket more securely around his and Betty's shoulders, it was the end of the summer so there was a little bit of a chill in the air. "At least we hope they won't."

"Stop it," Betty scolded, slapping her boyfriend playfully. "The owners keep this area as camping friendly as they can for us scardy-cats."

"I don't get it, you guys can face off against the black hood but this scares you?" Archie asked and both the girls nodded.

"I can handle people, I understand people and I can beat most people at their own games especially when I'm the one going after them but snakes are different, I don't understand snakes, they don't have limbs, they're just moving poisonous tails," Veronica told him making a face and Archie gave her a look of disbelief but shrugged, he'll understand her someday.

"I can't believe you've never been camping V," Betty said, stealing the s'more Jughead made and he glared at her and fussed to himself as he made himself a new one, Betty just grinned over at Veronica and Archie because she knew what she did and how if it were anyone else Jughead would have probably pushed them into the fire to get his food back.

"I have, just not like this," she said running her hand down Archie's arm to his fingers so she could intertwine them with hers. "I went glamping."

"What the hell is that?" Jughead asked fighting to control his laughter.

"Don't laugh," she said rolling her eyes. "But in New York, my friends and I went camping with a full team of professionals to build out tents and light the fires and give us massages and make over's, that was my only camping experience."

"That sounds ... ridiculous," Archie finally said glancing over at his friends across from them who were howling with laughter. "Even you have to admit that."

"Fine, it was a little ridiculous but to us it was like we were getting in touch with nature because we weren't in a 5-star hotel," Veronica said dropping her head to Archie's shoulder so she didn't have to look at them laughing and Archie squeezed her hand encouragingly even though he was laughing as well.

"I would have loved to have known you back when you were in New York," Jughead said wiping his eyes when he finally calmed down.

"Trust me you wouldn't," Veronica said, soft enough that only Archie heard her. Jughead and Betty had started their own conversation which gave Archie enough privacy to wrap his arm around Veronica and cup her face making her look up at him. "My past..." she started and Archie shook his head, he knew how insecure and upset she got when she thought of her past.

"We know all about your past Ronnie, and we don't care about how horrible you say you were before we met you, we just like to tease, I promise," he told her leaning down to kiss her. "Who you are now is all that matters."

"Hey lovebirds," Jughead called and Archie groaned against her lips and looked up at his best friend with an annoyed look.

"We have an early start in the morning so we're going to sleep," Betty said, poking at the dying fire. "Remember we need to be up before sunrise otherwise we'll miss the beauty of it."

"Only for you B," Veronica said with a grimace, she did not like getting up when it was still dark.

"We should probably put this fire out and go to sleep too, Betty will throw ice water on us if we don't get up early enough," Archie joked even though he knew that was something Betty would do, letting go of Veronica and he got up to judge how big the fire was. "I can't believe we're off to college after this trip."

"With your horrible football skills the last year I can't believe they offered you the scholarship," Veronica teased getting up, grabbing her water bottle and just pouring the contents on it onto the embers, putting them out and then turning her face when the smoke rose up to her.

"I was trying to avoid that," Archie said coughing when the smoke blew onto his face. "And what do you mean my horrible football skills? I was brilliant last year."

"Reggie was brilliant last year," Veronica said tapping her chin in a thinking motion and Archie made a noise of disapproval low in his throat as he reached for her. "You were just standing there looking dreamy."

"As long as your eyes were on me the whole time, I don't care how bad I was," he growled pulling her toward him by her waist.

"We can still hear you," they heard Jughead groan from his and Betty's tent and Archie looked at Veronica and they both burst out laughing. "Just go to sleep."

"Come on," Archie said taking her hands and pulling her into their tent, Veronica was still paranoid about snakes coming into their tents but Archie found a way to distract her.

* * *

"Come on guys, its just behind those tree's," Betty told them excitedly, pulling on Jughead's hand and making him run up the slight incline.

"B that's what you said two tree clumps ago," Veronica complained, Jughead made a grunt of agreement to whatever Veronica said, his eyes were shut as Betty dragged him along. "Can't we just watch a sunset sometime on this road trip and call it the 'beauty of nature' experience?"

"I don't know why you're complaining so much V," Betty laughed, smiling as she looked back at her best friend. "How are you doing there Archie?"

"Ronnie, you're the lightest person I've ever had to carry around, but after this I think you need to cut out Pop's fries," he teased huffing as he picked up his pace to catch up to Betty and Jughead, that comment earned him a slap on the head from Veronica who was on his back. "Ouch, Veronica."

"I would hit him too, don't ever tell a person they need to cut out Pop's fries," Jughead said and Archie rolled his eyes, trust Jughead to only wake up when food was involved. "Betty are we there yet?"

"Juggy, stop complaining," she said pushing a branch away from them and beaming at the sight. "We're here."

"Where is 'here' exactly?" Veronica asked, dropping her head down to Archie's shoulder again and closing her eyes, tightening her arms around his neck.

"My dad used to bring Polly and I here back when we were kids to watch the sunrise," Betty said as they came to a stop, it looked like it was the highest point of the town, they could see everything from up there. "The sunrise was always beautiful and after it was bright enough, Polly and I used to look into the town and try to spot our house."

"Interesting," Jughead said sitting down on the ground and then laying down and closing his eyes. "Wake me up when it starts."

"It's already started, Jug," Archie laughed letting Veronica down off his back gently.

"Come on Jug, you need to be awake," Betty said sitting down next to him and shaking him. Veronica pulled out a blanket from her bag and lay it on the ground for her and Archie to sit on and she yawned.

"Let him sleep B, it was a long walk up here," Veronica said rubbing her eyes as she sat down between Archies legs.

"You didn't even walk," Jughead grumbled but opened his eyes and pushed himself up. "You had the big buff redhead carry you all the way."

"I'm not made for hikes that long, especially not at this time of the morning," Veronica said leaning back into Archie and making herself comfortable in his arms.

"Would the both of you just shut up and watch this with me," Betty asked rolling her eyes and Jughead leaned over to hug her to him. "Please."

"You're not usually this irritable in the morning," Archie whispered using his arms to pull her closer to him, they have had quite a few early mornings together, so he feels qualified enough to know her morning moods.

"I know," she sighed tilting her head back and closing her eyes. "As comfortable as you are, Archikins, I do not sleep well with flimsy nylon sheets above my head."

"You'll get there," Archie said smiling and Veronica opened one eye to look at him. "Next time we could just sleep under the stars without a tent."

"If you think you're going to get me to do this again, you have another thing coming," she warned him and Archie laughed. "I don't care how convincing you think you can be."

"I am very convincing," he said pressing a series of quick kisses to her neck and she huffed but smiled, she could never keep a straight face when he was being adorable. "You can go back to sleep, I'll pretend like we're talking when Betty looks this way."

"So tempting," she said, glancing over to her friends who were wrapped up in their own conversation. "But I think I'd like to have one sunrise with you ... and then never do it again."

Once the sun had risen and Betty had gotten Jughead and Veronica to confess that they enjoyed the experience, the friends stood at the edge of the cliff and tried to find their houses in the distance, laughing at how off they probably were when Betty finally spotted Pop's in the opposite direction from where she thought it was.

"I never thought I'd leave Riverdale," Jughead said after a length of silence. "But I never thought I'd miss it if I ever did have to leave."

"It's home Jug, of course we'll miss it," Betty said smiling and rubbing his arm. "Everything that we've been through is in that town."

"It's not like we're leaving for good," Archie said eventually. "We'll be back, even if it's just for a visit, it's home."

Veronica was silent as the others reminisced about their childhood, for her she would be going back home, she and Archie were going back to New York and Veronica would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid of what was waiting for her back there. She didn't leave behind the best impressions and her family was prominent enough that she couldn't just fly under the radar.

"You're too quiet V," Betty said and Veronica looked up to see that it was just her and Betty standing together, the boys had moved away from them and where packing up their things as they spoke to each other. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes," she said smiling and hooking her arm through Betty's pulling her away from the view of Riverdale and toward the boys so they could walk back to camp and pack up and start the drive again. "I still hate you for getting me up so early, but I ended up enjoying this once in my lifetime experience."

"Archie will get you to do something like this again, I'm sure of it," Betty laughed and stopped Veronica as they got to the boys. "Are you sure you're ok V?"

"I'm just a little nervous about going back to New York," Veronica said shrugging her shoulders like it was nothing. "It's stupid, New York was home for years, I should be happy to go back."

"Stay close to Archie," Betty said after a while, she had an idea of what was going through Veronica's mind. "He may be the biggest softie but he'll protect you with his life."

Veronica smiled at Betty and then looked up to see her boyfriend watching them worriedly, his eyebrows creasing as he continued to watch her wondering whether to go to her and comfort her or give her some space to talk to Betty. Veronica felt warm at the thought of him being so protective over her and she blew him a quick kiss, watching as his forehead smoothed out and he smiled her favorite relaxed smile. "That I know."

"We should get back to camp and pack up, it's a long drive to our next stop," Jughead said when the girls got closer. "Maybe someone more awake should drive until I'm awake again."

"Relax Jug, I got the first driving shift remember?" Archie asked slipping his hand around Veronica and tucking her close to him as they walked.

"Wonderful," Jughead commented, clapping his hands together and looking happier as he followed Betty down the hill.

Archie and Veronica followed close behind Betty and Jughead, laughing about some stupid memory when she caught sight of logs in the distance not too far away from their campsites.

"Ronnie?" Archie asked when he felt her stop and pull at the hand that she was holding. "What's wrong?"

"There are log cabins," she said and the other three stared at her. "Right next to the camping site, there are log cabins."

"Yeah?" Betty said a little confused.

"You mean to tell me that I stayed in that mosquito infested tent, slept on the floor and have to take a shower in a communal shower when there were perfectly usable log cabins right next to us?" she asked the pitch of her voice getting higher as she continued her status.

"We wanted to camp," Jughead laughed at how angry she was getting.

"Why?" Veronica asked, her voice at the highest pitch anyone could have heard it. "I thought this was just the only viable option."

"Because we like camping Ronnie," Archie explained as Betty and Jughead cracked up behind him.

"Why in the world would anyone wa-" her rant was cut off as Archie scooped her up into his arms and ran to catch up with the others making her scream and grip his arms. Next time she was doing the bookings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I haven't forgotten about this oneshot series but it's being written as little sentences whenever inspiration strikes which means it will probably take forever for the next one-shot to be completed
> 
> The idea for this one shot series has merged and changed and become such a mess lol but we're just going to go with it and I'm going to post whatever I complete whenever I can but I'll keep it in this universe
> 
> I'm so happy Riverdale is getting a season 3 and I hope we go into it with Varchie perfectly in tact, also how amazing was that musical episode? I have all the songs featuring Cami on repeat, her voice is so good
> 
> Anyway, hopefully I can update soon
> 
> Until next time(^^,)


	7. Most wonderful time of the year part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas in Riverdale

"I've missed you kiddo," Fred says as soon as he see's Archie walk into Pop's and holds his arms open for his son to hug him. Archie squeezes his father and smiles, he missed the old man too. "So what's so important that you needed to meet me at Pop's as soon as you dropped Veronica off."

"What are you talking about? Can't a guy just want to have breakfast with his father?" Archie grinned going to the counter and ordering for the both of them before sitting down in the booth in front of Fred.

"Alone," Fred completed, Archie had called that morning and asked Fred to meet him at the Choc'lit shop alone after he dropped Veronica off at the Pembrooke. "You know full well that your mother is at home waiting for us."

"That's a phrase I never thought I'd hear you say again," Archie mused and Fred laughed, shaking his head.

"Don't get used to it just yet," he warned and then gave Archie a look to say that he knew he was avoiding whatever he called Fred to Pop's for. "These early morning talks have been our tradition for the important talks for years, so no, I don't believe that this is just a guy wanting to have breakfast with his father."

Archie didn't say anything, he just looked around as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, he opened it and pushed it toward his father, beaming and waiting for Fred's reaction.

"Archie, wow, would you look at that," Fred said with a hand coming over his mouth as he looked at the contents of the box, actual tears forming in his eyes. "Veronica is going to love it."

"Well she better, she picked it out," Archie laughed, he and Veronica had been talking more seriously about marriage since they moved in together. Veronica even handed Archie a scrapbook of her dream wedding from the color scheme down to the belt he was supposed to wear and everything in between, updated on a regular basis. The only thing he really had a say in was the ring, that was the one thing she wanted him to have full control over but Archie saw the way her eyes lingered on the one she really wanted, the one she wasn't sure she could ask him for and that's the one he got for her.

"That sounds about right," Fred laughed picking up the box so he could inspect it. "Arch it's beautiful."

"Almost as beautiful as the girl it was made for," Archie grinned nervously rubbing his hands together, he'd been jittery since he gotten his last pay check that would allow him to make the down payment for the ring.

"Pops, my boy is getting married," Fred told the old man when he came up to place their food on the table, his voice cracking on the last word.

"Well she hasn't said yes yet," Archie told them, still smiling as Pop's congratulated him and slapped his back.

"She will," Pop smiled before making his way back to the kitchen when his name was called.

"Veronica Lodge has yet to turn you down for anything," Fred said snapping the box shut and handing it back to Archie amused at his sons nervousness. "And she won't start now."

"I've just got to get the proposal perfect," Archie said taking the ring box and carefully tucking it back into his pocket.

"Do you need help?" Fred asked leaning forward and Archie shook his head.

"I'm not sure yet, Jug and Betty are going to help me with the planning this afternoon," Archie said pushing his food round in his plate. "I'm hoping I can propose the day before we head back to campus."

"That's the end of this week," Fred said and Archie nodded, he didn't have a lot of time left. "You're cutting it close there, son."

"I know," he winced, there was so much he wanted to do to make the moment everything Veronica dreamed about but he also didn't want to wait any longer, if he did he might just propose in the middle of the grocery store when the anticipation got too much. "It's going to work, I'll make it work."

"And she will say yes," Fred assured him.

"With my luck, I'll end up messing something up," Archie said shaking his head. "I just want her to have the perfect proposal."

"Kid, as long as it's you in front of her on one knee asking her to marry you, it'll be perfect for her," Fred said with an encouraging smile, he's known Veronica a long time and as high maintenance as she came across, there was nothing Archie could do to disappoint her. "I can't believe it, my son is getting married, wait till your mother hears about this."

"I actually want to keep mom in the dark a little longer," Archie said slowly and Fred raised an eyebrow, it was rare that Archie kept anything from his mother. "You know how excited she gets and with Veronica around, I don't want her to suspect anything, I wanted to keep Mrs Lodge in the dark as well but neither Mr Lodge nor I knew Veronica's ring size, so now I just need to hope that they can keep this secret."

"If anyone can keep a secret, it's Hermione," Fred said amused, leaning back in the booth and crossing his arms across his chest. "So you asked Hiram for his permission to marry his daughter? How did that go?"

"Painfully," Archie muttered making a face and Fred laughed, he figured as much, it was common knowledge among the older generation that Hiram Lodge liked Archie Andrews, and had come to accept that he was a perfect match for his daughter but he would never let the boy know that and made him work to earn his place.

"Did you at least do it face-to-face?" Fred asked and Archie nodded.

"He came up to New York for a meeting a few weeks ago," Archie said, telling his father how Hiram stayed with them at the Lodge house they were currently using as their student accommodation, one day when Veronica was on Campus and Archie had the afternoon off, he cornered Hiram as he entered the house and pled his case to his hopefully soon to be father in law. Hiram Lodge looked straight faced at him the entire time Archie spoke and nodded once when Archie was done which made Archie ask if that was a dismissal or approval.

Hiram eventually smirked and put Archie out of his misery, holding his hand out for Archie to shake and telling him it would be an honor to have him as a son-in-law, after all the years of training him, it would be tragic to start from scratch with someone new and Archie winced at both the remark and the too tight grip Hiram had on his hand.

"You're a good kid, Veronica is one lucky woman," Fred said smiling. "Now hurry up, your mother knows something's up, the faster we get back, the less she'll question you."

"Don't I know it," Archie laughed, draining the last of his coffee. "Are Betty and Jug back yet?"

"Yes, I saw Betty's car parked in the driveway before I left," Fred mentioned throwing down enough cash to cover the bill and waving to Pop as he and Archie left. "Let's go home."

* * *

Archie stifled a yawn and smiled at his parents sitting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, reminiscing about their young days, sipping on eggnog and flirting with the possibility of rekindling their marriage. It was the first time in years that he was spending Christmas with both his parents and he wanted to hold onto this moment for as long as he could.

"Arch, come look at this," Mary called and Archie walked over to her and sat cross legged on the floor. "This was your first Christmas."

"I was huge," Archie frowned, he hadn't seen these pictures in years, he and his dad weren't ones to go through the albums in storage but his mother loved to pull them out and look through the old pictures whenever she was home. "Did you edit these?"

"You were just a really fat baby," Mary told him with a laugh, there was no sugar coating that. "You only lost your baby fat when you started walking."

"More like running," Fred called from the table where he was filling up their cups.

"And then all that melted away, look here," she said turning a few more pages to show him what she meant and catching him yawning. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah it was a long drive," Archie said shaking his head and smiling at her when she reached out to run her fingers through his hair like she used to when he was a child. "I'm going to sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight love," his mother called turning the page. "Oh Fred do you remember this? Potty training, I think this is why we didn't have more kids."

Archie chuckled to himself as he walked up the stairs to his room and collapsed on the bed, it was strange to be back in his room, it was stranger to be in bed alone, he was so used to having Veronica's warm body pressed against his, he found it hard to sleep without her now.

After an hour of tossing and turning Archie gave up, there was no way he would be able to sleep without her there, she had sent him a message just before she went to bed so he was sure she was asleep, it was late so he knew her parents were asleep but he couldn't help it, he had to see her.

Archie threw on a shirt and jeans as he planned how he was going to break into Veronica's parents house and ran down the stairs, wondering if the door to the servants quarters was still as easy to unlock as it was when they were teenagers.

"Archie?" his mother questioned when she caught sight of him and his father just smiled and turned to her to explain.

"He's missing a certain raven haired princess," Fred said and Archie rolled his eyes at his tipsy parents before grabbing his keys and pulling the door open only to find his raven haired princess standing in front of him with a shocked expression on her face and her hand up to knock on the door.

"Hi," she said clearing her throat and smiling at him.

"Hi," he replied, reaching out to hold her and feeling whatever tension that was preventing him from falling asleep leave his body, he looked up and saw the Lodge's driver nod to him before driving off. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I've spent the last few hours getting well acquainted with my ceiling," Veronica muttered and Archie laughed, whenever she couldn't sleep she would lay on her back and stare at the ceiling probably counting sheep until she finally dozed off. "You too?"

"I think sleeping without you next to me has officially become impossible," he chuckled shivering as the cold air hit him and then he looked down at Veronica in a dress and heels, her bare legs had nothing on to protect her from the icy cold, Archie frowned pulling her into the house and closing the door. "Babe, aren't you freezing?"

"I wasn't in any state of mind to go digging for warmer clothes and I couldn't exactly come to your parents house in my night gown," Veronica said as she leaned into his embrace and slipped her cold hands under his shirt for warmth and Archie shivered as her hands touched his skin. "Besides I have a big, strong, warm boyfriend to ward off the cold."

"You're lucky it's not snowing," Archie said softly cupping her face and leaning down to capture her lips with his, keeping her close for a moment before breaking their kiss and turning her in the direction of the living room. "Come on, my parents are still awake."

"That was quick, we thought you were going to stay over at the Lodges not drag the poor girl here," Mary laughed standing up and holding her arms out to hug Veronica. "Veronica, it's so good to see you."

"It's not Archie, Mrs Andrews," Veronica said chuckling as Mary scolded her about the formalities. "I ended up here before he had a chance to leave the house."

"Kids these days," Fred laughed standing to hug Veronica as well. "Welcome back to Riverdale, we thought we were only going to see you tomorrow."

"Seems the raven haired princess was missing me too much," Archie joked and Veronica raised an eyebrow which Archie just shook his head to.

"Sit, make yourself comfortable, I'll get you some eggnog," Fred said waving Veronica off to sit next to Mary.

"Warmer clothes first," Archie told them, tugging on the hand he still hadn't let go off and pulling her closer to him and then walking them up the stairs to his room.

"I didn't think this through," Veronica said after they were up in his room, kicking off her heels and unbuttoning her coat.

"Didn't think what through?" Archie asked pulling out the warmest track pants he could find that she would probably have to roll up a million times and one of his old t-shirts that she loved stealing so much.

"Being here, staying here tonight, with your parent's, we've never been alone for this long with your mom before," Veronica said opening his cupboard and pulling out a hoodie as well and Archie rolled his eyes, she always stole his hoodies even though she had a perfectly warm coat of her own. "What if she decides after tonight that she hates me?"

"She will love you, because I love you and she knows how much you mean to me," Archie chuckled helping Veronica out of her dress and heels and pushing her down onto the bed as he kissed her, reaching a hand down to bend one of her legs up to hook around his waist.

"Archie," Veronica moaned as his lips traveled down to her neck, she took another moment to enjoy her boyfriends lips before pushing him away from her. "As much as I would love to continue, your parents are waiting for us, I need to make a good impression and this is not the best impression."

"You're acting like this is the first time you're meeting her," Archie muttered but he rolled off her onto his back on the bed and Veronica pulled on the clothes he took out for her to wear, pulling the hoodie on last and pouting at him when he was still frowning.

"Come on Archikins, just let me be the perfect girl for her son tonight," she said and Archie pushed himself up and kissed her softly.

"You already are the perfect girl for me," he said and Veronica blushed and caressed his cheek, leaning in for one last kiss before standing up. "Can't we just go to sleep, like we're going to do in the next 20 minutes anyway?"

"Who said anything about sleep?" Veronica asked over her shoulder as she sauntered out of his room and down the stairs and Archie blinked twice and then sprinted after her both of them laughing as they ran down the stairs.

"Children, what is going on here?" Mary asked just as Archie reached Veronica and grabbed her around her waist. Veronica buried her face into Archie's chest, both of them giggling uncontrollably. "Arch, please find out what's taking your father so long in the kitchen."

"Yeah, he's probably trying to cook something," Archie snorted letting go of Veronica and heading into the kitchen to check up on his dad. "I'll stop him."

"Come, sit," Mary said leading Veronica to the sofa's, picking up on the younger girls hesitation and nervousness. "Tell me about college, I can give you some tips being a lawyer myself," Mary said betting her eyelashes and making Veronica laugh.

"What are you thinking kid?" Fred asked as he and Archie stopped at the doorway looking at the 2 woman talking about legal terms that just flew over their heads.

"Nothing," Archie said a goofy smile on his face, his eyes watching Veronica excitedly explaining something to his mom, her hands going all over the place.

"You got it so bad," Fred snorted walking into the room and handing the girls their cups. Veronica looked up when Fred walked in and locked eyes with him, smiling and cocking up an eyebrow to which he shrugged, Veronica rolled her eyes and he laughed.

"Yeah I do," Archie said walking toward her, sitting next to her and having her curl up against him pressing a kiss to her head. He looked outside and nudged Veronica to look out as well.

"Snow," she gasped, like she did every single year the first snowflakes started to fall. "I told you we would have a white Christmas."

"Well it waited till the last minute," Archie laughed. "Are you happy?"

Veronica tilted her head back against his shoulder pulling his arms tighter around her and he just knew that she was getting ready to fall asleep and he'd have to carry her up to bed. "The happiest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I have not forgotten about this one-shot series just yet, but I did lose all inspiration after the second season and I started hating Hiram
> 
> So I've changed the idea for this one-shot series more times than I've actually posted, but I think I'm going to focus all my attention on doing the second bit of this which will be the proposal and the wedding from Fred's visions, which was how I started on this little series in the first place and then I will add whatever else I can come up with, if inspiration strikes or you guys leave me prompts that will fit this world
> 
> I did initially intend for 'I saw our whole future' to be sort of a sequel to this but it turns out I'm too impatient to wait to post that lol so they're in separate universes this one with a normal Hiram and the other with a criminal Hiram
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and hopefully I'll have part 2 up soon
> 
> Until Next Time (^^,)


	8. Most wonderful time of the year part 2

"Archie?" Veronica questioned as she came down the stairs, to the Andrews living room. She burrowed herself into her (his) sweatshirt and moved through the room to the patio where she saw Archie leaning against the railing looking out to the street. "Hey."

"Morning Ronnie," Archie greeted when she slipped her arms around his waist, he picked up one of her hands and pressed a kiss to the back of it pulling her around so he could hug her properly, letting her snuggle into his arms and close her eyes against his chest. "Do you want coffee?"

"Yes," Veronica said but then held him tighter when he went to move. "But I don't want to leave you, you're so warm, just stay right here," she murmured happily and Archie chuckled.

"Babe, you should go back to bed," Archie whispered into her hair rocking her gently. He reached to the side of the railing and grabbed his mug holding it under her nose and she opened one eye to look at him and then smiled as she took the mug out of his hand and drank the hot liquid. "Are you awake now?"

"Yes, thank you," she said moaning gratefully. "I love you."

"Are you talking to me or the coffee?" he asked laughing at her energy now that she had her caffeine.

"Mmmm," Veronica said after thinking for a moment, leaning up to kiss him. "You, always you."

"I love you too," he told her and Veronica put the mug down and wrapped her arms around him again, frowning slightly at the nervous tension his body held.

"Archikins, is everything ok?" Veronica asked looking up and Archie nodded, his smile a little tighter than usual.

"Of course Ronnie, why wouldn't it be?" he asked furrowing his eyebrows at her and Veronica just shook her head, call it girlfriend intuition but she had a feeling that something was off about him since her father visited them in New York, at the time she just chalked it up to her father's usual attitude toward Archie but after watching them interact this week when they stayed at her parent's place, she wasn't so sure. "What are you and Betty doing today?"

"We have an appointment at Le Charme, some girl time to pamper ourselves before the new year rolls in and we're back to college stress," Veronica told him with a content sigh and Archie nodded, looking over at the Coopers to see Jughead and Betty sitting at the table listening to one of the twins talk. "It's so strange that if the curtains are open, you and Betty have an uninterrupted view into each others houses."

"It's only strange because you didn't grow up like that," Archie snorted and Veronica made a face, she was quite happy not having anyone that she knew looking into her personal moments. "When we were kids it was perfect, because we always knew when the other was ready to leave, or was in need of saving from our parents."

"Maybe back then it was fine, but now, just weird," Veronica told him making him roll his eyes and start walking them back inside. "What are you and Jughead going to do? You could come with us, have a couples massage, you have been extra stressed lately."

"The only person I want massaging me is you," Archie told her, enjoying the feel of her hands rubbing his shoulders and down his arms, kissing her as he backed her into the kitchen, somebody clearing their throat made them break apart and turn to find Mary at the stove, flipping pancakes. "Morning mom." Archie said coughing awkwardly.

"Hi Arch, Veronica, the pancakes are almost ready," Mary said smirking at their embarrassment before going back to what she was doing.

"Where's dad?" Archie asked letting Veronica sit on one of the stools at the kitchen table before pouring her, her own mug of coffee and then taking his place next to her.

"He took Vegas for a walk into town and he's going to grab some things that we need before everything shuts down," Mary told them, turning the gas off and placing a large plate of pancakes down in front of them. "I can't believe it's already New Years eve and you're leaving us in 2 days, it feels like only yesterday you were blowing into town and pretending like you two could spend the night away from each other."

"To be fair, before this week, we could," Veronica said holding onto the table as Archie pulled her legs over one of his and placed a hand at the edge of her thigh to keep her from sliding off, winking at her when she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Ah young love," Mary said with a laugh as she poured 2 cups of coffee, placing them both on the table just in time for Fred to burst through the door, putting the packets on the counter and shrugging of his jacket. "Just in time."

"Good Morning," Fred greeted, sitting down and reaching for the mug closing his eyes and inhaling the coffee smell like Veronica had done earlier. "This looks great."

"So kids, what are you doing today?" Mary asked digging in, Veronica started explaining what she and Betty were going to do, and trying not to frown at the look that Fred and Archie shared when they thought she wasn't looking.

* * *

"Betty, we missed the turn to go to the Pembrooke," Veronica said turning her head back, watching the road they just missed fade into the distance. She and Betty had a full day of pampering and then they went back to her house to get ready, the boys were going to finish up whatever they were up to and meet them at the Pembrooke for the Lodges New Years Eve party.

"We're going to meet the boys first and then head to your parents party," Betty told her slowing down slightly as she took a turn heading toward Sweetwater River.

"Sweetwater River? It's freezing, what are they doing there?" Veronica asked with a frown wondering what their boyfriends could possibly be getting up to and Betty laughed and shook her head. "They better not need rescuing, I'm not wearing the right heels."

"Oh I see them, looking safe," Betty said almost distractedly and Veronica sat up straighter looking for her Archie. She found him looking as handsome as ever in his black suit, his hair stood out, red against the stark white of the snow and his cheeks pink from the cold. He was laughing at something Jughead said, bringing his arm up to block his eyes when the light from Betty's headlights hit his eyes. "Come on, let's go see what they're up to."

"You already know," Veronica accused looking at Betty's smiling face and Betty pressed her lips together and shook her head no. Veronica's door opened and Archie stood above her before she could say anymore, his hand out to take hers and help her out of the car.

"Hey babe," Archie said grinning widely when she placed her hand in his and let him help her out of the car. "Wow."

"Wow yourself," Veronica said all other thoughts flying out of her head at the look on his face as he took in her black backless dress. He leaned down to kiss her, his hands dipping a little too low down her body for the company they had.

"Get a room," Jughead called to them, an arm around Betty as he made a face at them. Archie and Veronica broke apart with a laugh, Veronica shivered slightly but smiled when Archie's coat was immediately draped over her shoulders, still warm from when he was wearing it.

"Leave them Juggy," Betty scolded, her fingers smoothing out his collar, setting it so it sat perfectly.

"Come with me," Archie said to Veronica in a whisper, tugging her forward gently with the sides of his coat. Veronica narrowed her eyes slightly but slipped her hands into his and followed blindly, the trust she had in this boy. "I have a surprise for you."

"What about Betty and Jughead?" she asking giggling at the giddiness in his actions turning to look back at their friends who were completely wrapped up in each other and not paying attention to the fact that Veronica and Archie had left them. "Archikins, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see soon enough," Archie said as the turned a corner, the river itself was frozen over so they couldn't hear the water but she knew they were heading toward river bank. Veronica narrowed her eyes but didn't ask any more questions, she just let him guide her to wherever surprise he had for her. That tension and nervousness that he had since they left New York was gone, he was back to normal again and she couldn't help but feel relieved that his day with Jughead helped him. "Oh wait, you need to close your eyes."

"What?" Veronica asked confused coming to a stop, almost bumping into Archie when he came to a dead stop and turned around to look at her. "Archie, what is this surprise?"

"Do you trust me?" he asked, his smile bright and his nose pinker than his cheeks, tugging her forward to press against his front.

"More than anything," she replied without missing a beat and he grinned pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"Ok, then close your eyes," he said and Veronica gave him one more perplexed look before closing her eyes and laughing as he guided her through the trees, she wanted to open her eyes so badly to see what he was up to but she wouldn't want to spoil something he was so excited about.

"Archie," Veronica whispered urgently when his hands left her, she stood still waiting for him to touch her again or speak but all she heard was a little rustling. "Archie where are you?"

"Open your eyes," he said and Veronica did.

She gasped, her hands clasping over her mouth as she did. There in the snow written out in burning candles where the words "Will you Marry Me?"

"Oh my God," she croaked, her eyes filling with surprised tears and she turned to find her red headed prince behind her, down on one knee, watching her take it all in. He slowly lifted his hand and opened the black velvet box to show her a princess cut diamond engagement ring that she had been longing for, for the better part of the last 3 years when she first laid her eyes on it.

"This isn't as fancy as I wanted it to be or as fancy as you deserve," he started and Veronica shook her head, it was perfect, there were fairy lights on the trees and red roses by the candles, champagne chilling in the snow next to a couple of glasses and her Archie kneeling down in front of it all looking as nervous as she had ever seen him, holding up a ring.

"Just ask me, Archie, ask me," she said biting down on her lip, she couldn't wait any longer, she saw the words written out on the ground but she needed him to ask her to actually say the words to make it real.

"Ronnie, the day I met you, you were it for me, you were... you are, everything I could have ever wanted, I saw our whole future that day and I want it so bad, I love you and I am who I am because you love me," he said smiling up at her and Veronica held her breath as she waited for him to say the words, he could feel her excitement and all the nerves he had before was gone. "Veronica Lodge, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes," she screamed throwing her arms around him as he stood to take her in his arms. She didn't care that she was freezing or that they were so late for her parents party they might as well not go, all she cared about was Archie's lips on hers and his arms were wrapped tight around her. "A million times yes, I love you Archie Andrews, I can't wait to be your wife."

"I need to put the ring on," he said between kisses, chuckling when she gave no indication that she was going to let go of him long enough for him to find the box that had fallen out of his hand when she launched herself at him and she rolled her eyes and unwound her arms from his neck so he could grab the box and take the ring out. Veronica squealed and bounced on the spot, unable to keep herself composed as Archie slid the ring onto her finger, pressing a kiss to her knuckles and grinning up at the awe on her face. "Your mom helped me with the sizing, I was clueless."

"She knows?" Veronica asked surprised and they it all clicked into place, the weird mood Archie had been in since her fathers visit, he asked Hiram Lodge for permission to marry her and he had been trying to keep this secret since then.

"The party is doubling as an engagement party, provided you said yes, of course," he said, sounding like he was quoting her father.

"As if there was any doubt," Veronica said shaking her head.

"Your parents knew the day I asked your dad for permission to marry you," he said and Veronica shook her head, he was such an old soul. "And I told my parents this week, I was so close to just bursting and proposing to you in the living room."

"I'm so glad you waited," she said with a sniff, it didn't matter where Archie proposed to her, the outcome would always have been the same, but the fact that he put so much effort into this moment made it that much more special to her.

"Do you like the ring?" he asked and she gave him an incredulous look, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, she could hardly believe that he picked it out.

"It's beautiful," she said resting her hand on his chest and admiring the rock on her ring finger. "How did you know that this was the one I wanted?"

"Every single time we walked past that jewellery shop on 5th you looked at it, even unconsciously, your eyes would just find it and your face would light up," Archie told her and she shook her head, she didn't realize how much attention he paid to her until then. "So I knew that if I was going to do this right, this was the ring, this was your ring."

"I can't believe you did this, it's perfect, you're perfect," Veronica said wrapping her arms around him and kissing him again. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," he smiled against her lips, both of them gasping when a light flashed next to them blinding her and Jughead and Betty appeared with a camera and equally blinding smiles.

"Congratulations," Betty squealed, throwing herself on Veronica and hugging her tightly before taking her hand and admiring the ring. "Oh Arch, its gorgeous."

"Never thought you had such good taste man," Jughead grinned as he took Veronica's hand to look at the ring as well and then looked up at Betty. "Are you crying?"

"Yes I am, my best friends are getting married," Betty said with tears in her eyes, hugging Archie tightly. "Are you ready to go celebrate?"

"I kind of just want to stay here just a little longer," Veronica said gravitating back into Archie's arms, she just wanted to stay here until the candles burned out, sipping on the champagne with her fiancé and their best friends, but it was cold and the warmth of the Pembrooke was very appealing right now.

"Your wish is our command," Jughead said popping open the champagne bottle and pouring them each a glass. "To the happy couple."

"To us," Veronica said to Archie, clicking her glass with his and he smiled and dipped his head to peck her lips.

"To us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Adulting is hard guys, I have had no time to properly edit this and I'm still a little unsure about it but you guys can tell me if I pulled it off, I wanted to post this before the New year lol, I was optimistic
> 
> I finally managed to catch up with Riverdale, is Veggie finally over?? I don't think they are going to be able to recover from that  
> We know Josie is going leave Riverdale before 3x20, which isn't too far away but ... Varchie will return before that, I kinda wish they had Veronica be a part of the Red Paladin plot, just so we had the core 4 for more than a second but anyway
> 
> I still can't believe that Luke Perry is gone, Riverdale will not be the same without his as Fred Andrews
> 
> Anyway please review
> 
> Until Next Time (^^,)


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